Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Video Game Review - Bioshock Infinite

The original
Bioshock was an amazing game. It was incredibly immersive and had plot twists
that left me speechless. The creepy atmosphere was so well-crafted that my
horror-movie-loving girlfriend refused to be in the room while I played it
because Rapture's residents freaked her out with their insane ramblings. The
sequel focused more on the action rather than the story, which was a wise
decision as trying to recapture the original game's uniqueness would have been
folly. Bioshock is back, but with a new setting, and a chance to strike a new
chord in gaming history.

The story
seems rather straightforward; the protagonist, Booker, is sent on a mission to
free Elizabeth from her fairy tale imprisonment in a tower, part of the
not-so-perfect society that exists in the cloud-based city of Columbia. The
phrase "Bring us the girl and wipe away the debt" is intertwined in
the story as much as "Would you kindly" was part of the first
Bioshock. When you finally meet up with Elizabeth, you begin a rocky
relationship filled with compelling conversation and useful scavenging. Perhaps
the most remarkable thing about escorting Elizabeth through the increasingly
violent streets: she's a boon, rather than a burden, even during combat. Not
only can she pick locks and open magical "tears" to provide useful
objects, she'll also find money and ammo to help you out in your time of need.
And best of all, she manages to stay out of harm's way while bullets are
flying. When the game separates you from her, you will definitely miss her
presence.

The gunplay
in Bioshock games was always a weak point. They take their cues from old-school
first person shooters like Doom, rather than craftier cover-based modern
shooters. Infinite still follows the tired old formula; they do give you a
recharging shield, but they also whittle your weapon selection to two-at-a-time
(Really? The one modern FPS mechanic I really dislike, and that's the one they
chose to implement??). None of the guns feel very exceptional, and even after
they're fully upgraded they never feel sufficiently devastating.

On the flip
side, the magic powers (this time they're called vigors, rather than the
plasmids from previous entries) all feel great and are quite useful. These
powers can be fired directly at your attackers, or charged up and left on the
ground as a trap. My favorite vigor was Murder of Crows. Similar to the bee swarms
you could unleash in the first game (which I never found much use for), this vigor
releases a flock of birds to peck at your enemies. In addition to temporarily
disabling your enemies, it's also great for helping you locate enemies that
might have otherwise snuck up on you. Other vigors enable you to catch bullets,
toss firebombs, and send foes flying back (which is pretty darn useful when
fighting in a city floating high in the sky). They're all great, and best of
all you don't have to decide which ones to equip... you have access to all you
have unlocked at anytime, so long as you have enough energy (in the form of a
liquid called Salts) to use them.

You also
have a new mechanic in the use of a sky hook traveling system. The hook is
attached to your arm, doubling as a melee weapon (which provides from some gruesome
killings, easily providing 90 percent of the game's Mature rating). Around
several areas of Columbia are roller coaster-like rails that you can jump on
and off, providing extreme mobility during fights, as well as powerful air
attacks (which can be amplified even more by equipping special clothing that
can enable abilities such as adding a fiery explosion upon impact). This opens
up combat more than its normal run-gun-hide routine.

The graphics
are pretty, and the city of Columbia is indeed an impressive set-piece to
behold the first time you lay eyes on it. However, the game fails to capitalize
on the spectacle, and once you get used to your surroundings, it all becomes
more-of-the-same as you play through each new setting. There's no new environment
that makes you go "whoa" as you enter it, no crescendo in the art
design. It's all set at a high level of beauty, but it hits that bar and just stays
there. With no memorable divergence, you begin to take the scenery for granted
and it becomes a flat experience. As a gamer, I crave a constant sense of
newness, of progression, as I play through a game. And yet the city of Columbia
failed to give that to me.

The
character design also feels uninspired to me. The plastic look of the
characters in the original game helped increase the creepy factor that fit that
game perfectly, but Infinite does not have that moody atmosphere and needs its
own look. While it helps make it feel like the same world, the style feels
dated. The recent Dishonored had an art style that reminded me of Bioshock, but
still had its own feeling. Infinite seems content not to stray too far from its
comfortable pedigree. And that may be the biggest problem I had with the
game...

I believe
Bioshock Infinite would have been better served if it hadn't been labeled as a
Bioshock game.

In addition
to conforming to Bioshock's mannequin-esque character design, Infinite also
keeps the ludicrous scavenging system. Eating food out of trashcans for
miniscule amounts of health is a stupid game mechanic. Was five years ago, and still
is now. But now you can't even carry items to recharge your health or magic.
Why? And perhaps the biggest burden the game takes on with the Bioshock name
attached: the story expectation.

Infinite
takes the smart route of not going head-to-head with the original Bioshock,
setting the story in a lively, thriving city (full of very uncomfortable open-faced
racism) rather than the ruins of a fallen civilization. We're along for the
ride during the fall of this stratospheric society, instead of dealing with its
haunted remains. But it's like watching a M. Night Shyamalan movie after you
first saw The Sixth Sense. You're waiting for the big twist, but it can never
live up to your expectation. The twist in Bioshock blindsided me... I hadn't
even realized that they were dropping clues throughout the game until that plot
point happened. But here, I kept saying to myself "surely they aren't
going there" and yet they did. Not that the storyline is completely by the
books... the narrative loops back upon itself so bizarrely that you fall off
the track and may be too puzzled to be sure if you see the plot holes you think
you can. The underlying theme of pre-ordained destiny ends up being a not-quite-sensible
attempt at an ending, but is definitely an interesting ride.

Even the
enemies in this game lack much of a presence when compared to the original. The
hulking Big Daddies seemingly lurked around every corner in Rapture. Here,
there are two "big" enemies: The Songbird and the Handyman (Handymen?).
The Songbird is criminally underused. It should have been an ever-present
entity, keeping you on your toes and out of its sights. Instead, it shows up a
time or two and interactions are mostly handled in cutscenes. Boo! Maybe that's
why they went with some generic looking cover art instead of featuring the
awesome Songbird; because it would have been misleading to what you get of it
in the game.

(Speaking of
the cover art... there was a lot of ado about the choice to simply put
guy-with-gun on the box instead of featuring the more fantastical elements of
the game. Irrational Games' co-founder Ken Levine defended the decision, saying
it would appeal to frat boys. I find that rationale completely flawed. Trying
to market it to the Call Of Duty crowd seems to me like you're intentionally
trying to mislead them. As I stated earlier, the gunplay is the weakest part of
this game. It's all about the story, the environment, the magical abilities,
and then... maybe... the gun combat. I wandered around in this game for at
least a half an hour before I even got a gun. This is the type of game that
needs to marketed to its own type of audience. Plus, Booker's old-style
wardrobe may give the impression that you'll be fighting with single-fire
muskets. Not exactly the full-auto Battlefield crowd's dream. But I digress...)

As far as
the Handyman goes... the first time you see him, he's watching you closely and
you're thinking "dontpisshimoff! dontpisshimoff! dontpisshimoff!" But
when do you fight him, there's no drama to the event. And he comes back a
couple more times later on without any rhyme or reason for his being there. Is
it the same Handyman, or are there several of these things? I don't know, as
they look identical. In fact, most enemies are carbon copies of each other. The
lack of enemy skins is disheartening indeed.

So why is
this called Bioshock? The only thing directly tying the game to the others in
the franchise, is a quick cameo at the end, which Booker even dismisses as a
joke. Would the developers not have gotten their budget approved with a new IP
that took more design risks? Is "from the studio that brought you
Bioshock" not enough of a selling point that it needs to be chained
directly and absolutely to this established product? I think it was a crutch
that ultimately crippled its full potential.

3.5 out of 4
Stars

Recommended
for: Story lovers. If you enjoy quality character interaction in-between all
them people shooting at you, this is a game you should definitely play.

Franchise
fixes: Make it a true anthology series, with more definitive design
differences. I'd like to see recurring locations or chacacters presented in
distinctly different styles. Also, overhaul the health system. The regenerating
shield was a good step; That brings the game up to 2001 standards, so how about
adding another decade or so to that?